Chapter 3

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Sydney furiously paced back and forth across the floor of the Ops Center.

"How could they not send a search team?! Vaughn is one of their best agents; I can't just leave him to die by Sark!!"

Jack Bristow sat watching his daughter and said nothing.

"Fine, if no one is willing to help me, I'll go look for him myself. I'll see you when I get back - with Vaughn."

She continued to pace as she collected her thoughts and mentally prepared herself to face her mother. Then, she turned to her father angrily, "Well, aren't you going to say anything?!!"

"Sydney, I think that you might be making a mistake. I know that you aren't exactly biased when it comes to Agent Vaughn and you are acting out of emotion. Let yourself calm down and clear your head before you go on some wild goose chase to catch Sark. Besides, Kendall won't give you permission to look for him. We can't spare a single agent right now."

Sydney stared at her father, shocked. 'How can he be so unsupportive? Before he said that we needed Vaughn. He knows how I feel about him, how could he just tell me to do nothing? Then again, we are talking about Jack Bristow.'

His indifference about her feelings hurt her. She thought he was beginning to understand her, and that they were beginning to bond as a caring father and loving daughter. Now, he was treating her like some low level agent who he didn't care about at all. She felt hot tears reach her eyes and tried to blink them away. She wouldn't let her father see her cry.

"Dad, I know what I'm doing. You may not care what happens to Vaughn, but I do. So if you will excuse me, I need to go find my handler."

She turned on her heel and quickly walked away leaving her father to look on after her, knowing that he just screwed things up again. ************************************************************************ Vaughn gasped for air as Sark turned off the machine. This torture was almost unbearable. When Sark had flipped the switch the first time, an electric current swept through the water, electrocuting Vaughn in the process. The first few shocks had been mild, but as Vaughn repeatedly refused to give Sark information, the shocks grew increasingly more powerful - and painful. Vaughn felt as if every part of his body was on fire. He felt like his organs were burning and the icy cold water in the tub did nothing to soothe his pain. He could barely breathe and the world around him was starting to turn to black as he slipped into unconsciousness.

'I can't let Sark think I'm weak. Come on Vaughn, get a grip, suck it up, you can get through this.' Vaughn clenched his teeth, preparing for the next shock.

"Agent Vaughn, I think that will be all for today. Why don't you go back to your room and think things over and we can talk later. I'll send Sydney your love."

Sark signaled for the guards to carry Vaughn back to his cell and he wondered what Sark meant by his last remark.

************************************************************************ Sydney sat alone on her living room couch, with her head in her hands. Her father was right, she was acting foolishly. She didn't have the slightest clue as to where to start looking for Vaughn. If her mother was here, she could ask her, but...her mother had betrayed her, again.

"Oh God," she sobbed. "What the hell am I doing? Vaughn could be anywhere now, oh God, oh God, what am I doing?" She rocked herself back and forth as she cried.

The cheery ringing of her CIA cell phone disturbed her thoughts and she groaned as she fumbled through her purse to get it.

"What," she said a little too harshly. Wait a minute, only Vaughn had this number.

"Miss Bristow, I'm glad I caught you while you're in a good mood. We need to discuss a few things," Sydney gaped at hearing Sark's voice. "As I am sure you are aware, Agent Vaughn is currently in my care and will continue to remain so until he begins to cooperate with my simple requests."

"What do you want with him?" Sydney asked softly as tears again reached her eyes.

"Oh not much, just some information regarding a contact of my employer's." Sark made the conversation seem so petty, as if he were talking about the weather.

"You mean my mother?" Sydney could feel her anger begin to rise as he mentioned the woman who had destroyed and betrayed so many people.

"Yes you are correct. She is actually quite eager to see you again, Miss Bristow. That is the reason for my call. If Agent Vaughn agrees to cooperate with us, we can set up a meet where we will release Agent Vaughn back into CIA custody. We will meet in Rio de Janero in two days at 22 hundred hours. You must come alone. There, we will either release Agent Vaughn or give you his dead body depending on how well he cooperates. There is one condition however, you must give us all the Rambaldi documents in the CIA's possession. Then and only then, will we let Agent Vaughn go."

Sydney tried to take in everything he just told her. She hoped that Vaughn would just tell Sark what he wanted to know. She couldn't bear to lose him too.

"Alright, deal. See you then." Sydney turned off her phone. Suddenly, a thought came to her. She jumped up, grabbed her coat, and drove as fast as she could to the Ops center. If this worked, she thought, she would be seeing Sark a lot sooner.
TBC.

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I hope this chapter wasn't too bad, I wasn't really paying attention while I was writing it.. Thanks again to those of you who reviewed, I REALLY appreciate it!!